1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fish lures and in particular to a spoon bill and hook on a wire leader that removably attaches to an artificial fabricated rubberized simulated bait fish or an actual natural bait fish to simulate a swimming motion in the bait fish and after the fish is caught the hook and wire leader detaches from the bait fish thereby saving the bait fish to be reused.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Catching fish relies on using a bait and hook simulating the food that fish normally feed on so that the feeding fish will attempt to eat the bait and hook and the fish will be hooked and pulled in on a fishing line.
Many fish feed on smaller fish called bait fish. Fishing lures to simulate small fish very often don""t even look like a real fish nor do they simulate the movement of the fish. They often just attempt to attract a feeding fish by making some movement, not swimming movement, or just by the glitter of the lure.
A number of attempts have been made to create fishing lures and hooks that will be effective in attracting and catching fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,875, issued Feb. 2, 1993 to Righetti, provides a flexible fishing lure having a segmented body connected by a thin flexible membrane and a diving bill, which produces a serpentine motion in the water. The fishing line is attached to a loop on the front of the bill and the hooks are attached to the fish body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,232, issued Apr. 13, 1999 to Horton et al, shows a natural bait holding fishing lure for use with dead bait fish, the lure having a plastic minnow head with a protruding metal tongue-shaped foil in front which deflects water to simulate the swimming motion of a live minnow. The device has a tube inserted in the minnow""s mouth and a pivoting barbed locking pin on top and a fish hook below engaging the underside.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,058,643 and 6,052,938, issued May 9, 2000 and Arp. 25, 2000 to Marusak et al, claim a modular fishing lure kit with a soft fish-like body having a spoon-like lip that snaps into the front of the lure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,083, issued Nov. 30. 1999 to Deng et al, describes a flexible segmented fishing lure kit with parts that can be assembled to form the lure including a crank bait lip which can be secured at the front under the head.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,978, issued Oct. 6, 1998 to Huddleston, discloses a soft bait fish lure having a hard rigid head portion with a diving plate and an attached soft flexible body and tail portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,023, issued Jul. 18, 1989 to Ryder et al, indicates a fishing lure for use with dead bait fish, having a front cover head portion with a foil or diving plane which deflects water to create lateral motion of the lure and bait fish to simulate swimming.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,500, issued Nov. 26, 1968 to Lahtinen, puts forth a fish lure with a flexible fish-shaped body having a pivoted spoon-like lip on the front to simulate the swimming movement of a bait fish.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,652, issued Dec. 8, 1992 to Davis, concerns a line tie for an artificial fish lure having a fish shaped body with a diving lip on the front having a loop pivotally attached to the diving lip for attaching the line so the lure can move freely from side to side when dragged through the water to simulate swimming.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,632, issued Jun. 17, 1997 to Smith, illustrates an artificial fishing lure having an S-shaped body and a front diving lip to simulate swimming movement.
A number of design patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. D254,026, D270,751, D296,811, D345,003, D364,670, D299,264, D377,384, and D396,261, all show fishing lures with downwardly protruding lips or bills in the front end of a fish-shaped lure.
None of the prior art patents provide a fishing lure having an attachable plastic spoon bill with the hook and wire leader attached to the bait fish separately from the spoon bill so that the hook and wire leader pulls away from the bait fish when the live fish is hooked. Nor do the prior art patent provide having the spoon bill attachable with a pin and insertion shaft to either a soft artificial bait fish or an actual natural bait fish. None of the prior art patents provide a properly shaped spoon bill with a weighted ballast in the bait fish for a more realistic swimming motion in the bait fish.
An object of the present invention is to provide a spoon bill and attached wire leader and hook that are attachable to an artificial fabricated rubberized bait fish or to an actual natural bait fish to simulate a swimming motion in the bait fish.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimming simulating attachable spoon bill and attached wire leader and hook that detach from the bait fish when a live fish is hooked, thereby saving the lure or bait fish to be used again.
One more object of the present invention is to provide an angled spoon bill with a ballast weight in the bottom of the bait fish to more effectively simulate the actual swimming motion of a fish. And further, with the ballast weight connected at the intersection of the wire leader and hook, to use that ballast weight inserted with a tight friction fit into a hole in the bait fish to secure the line end of the hook to the body of the bait fish while the hook end is hooked into the bait fish.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a spoon bill with an insertion portion that is inserted in the mouth of the bait fish and secured therein by a pin inserted through the body of the bait fish and into a hole in the insertion portion to insure that the spoon bill stays attached to the bait fish.
In brief, a plastic spoon bill with an angular bend and a hook apparatus, having a wire leader from the spoon bill with the hook attached at the end, are attached to an artificial fabricated rubberized bait fish or an actual natural dying or dead bait fish to create a unique bait fish fishing lure which accurately simulates a swimming fish. It looks and acts like an actual swimming bait fish.
The hook apparatus detaches from the bait fish when a live fish attempting to eat the bait fish is hooked, thereby saving the bait fish to be reused.
The spoon bill has a horizontal insertion portion inserted into the mouth of the bait fish and secured therein with a pin through the body of the bait fish fitting through a hole in the insertion portion to secure the insertion portion in place. A downwardly angled spoon bill portion, bent forward and having preferably a circular shape or an oval shape wider at the bottom and having an upward bend at the bottom extends forward out of the mouth of the bait fish to create a natural swimming motion in the bait fish as it is pulled through the water on a fishing line attached to the top of the spoon bill portion.
Attached under the top of the spoon bill portion is a short wire leader, approximately half the length of the bait fish, with a fishing hook at the end of the wire leader. The fishing hook is inserted into the underside or belly of the bait fish. A weighted plug attached at the intersection of the wire leader and the fishing hook is inserted into a hole made in the belly of the bait fish to further secure the hook flat against the bait fish and to assist as a weighted ballast in the simulation of the swimming movement of the bait fish.
An advantage of the present invention is that it has a spoon bill that creates a simulated swimming movement in a fabricated or actual bait fish and then has a wire leader and hook attached to the spoon bill that separates from the bait fish upon hooking a live fish to preserve the bait fish for reuse.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a spoon bill in front of the bait fish and a weighted ballast in the underside of the bait fish to create a realistic swimming motion in the bait fish and thereby act as a more effective bait fish fishing lure to catch fish. The invention may be fabricated in various sizes to fit different types of bait fish.
A further advantage of the present invention is that it may be used with an artificial fabricated bait fish or an actual natural bait fish.